MORNING, SUNSHINE!- My Interview w/Robin Meade

SUNSHINE SUPER(WO)MAN- ROBIN MEADE ON SELF ESTEEM, CONFIDENCE & EMBRACING YOUR INNER BITCH

by Bret Love

 

As the perennially perky host of HLN’s Morning Express, Robin Meade would seem to have it all: She’s funny, informed and drop-dead gorgeous. But as the former Miss Ohio explains in her new book, Morning, Sunshine, she wasn’t always so well put-together. Before landing an anchor job with the network then known as CNN’s Headline News, Meade suffered a series of anxious panic attacks that nearly derailed her career. Now, having conquered her own self-esteem issues, she’s on a mission to help others do the same. We recently sat down with the 40-year-old hottie for a candid talk that covered everything from growing up the daughter of a minister to being named “Sexiest Newscaster” in Playboy poll.

 

 

What was your childhood like, growing up in small-town Ohio?

 

I think the small-town lifestyle definitely had a big impact on my confidence level. When you grow up in a small town, you don’t get away with anything because it always gets back to your parents. My town was so small, we were allowed to go out for lunch downtown at the pizza joint and come back to school, and they trusted us to come back on time. It was so small, there were never enough kids for all the extracurricular activities, so you got to do whatever you wanted and never had to worry about being cut. That’s really good for your self-esteem! (Laughs)

 

How did your father being a minister impact you?

 

Well, he was an associate minister, but he refused pay. During the week he worked in a factory as a full-time manual laborer, and my mom worked in a different manufacturing plant as a manager. So I would get the union line from him and the managerial line from her, which really taught me to be balanced in how I viewed things. So now job I know that there are always two sides to every story, because I grew up seeing it in my own household.

 

When did you first realize you wanted to get into news?

 

My senior year of high school I took an aptitude test and the results showed that I was all about creative writing and reading comprehension. At the bottom it asked in what field you’d like to use these traits, but I didn’t know what to write. My friend had gotten similar results, and she wrote down that she wanted to be a broadcast news journalist. I thought that was a great idea, so that’s what I wrote down. Isn’t that terrible? (Laughs) I’d always asked a lot of questions and had a knack for making people feel comfortable talking about themselves, which played very well into this field. I remember when I entered a Junior Miss pageant and wrote down that I wanted to follow in Diane Sawyer’s footsteps, and my mom was like, “Honey, let’s write down something a bit more realistic!” It seemed like such a foreign idea for this kid from a cornfield to be like, “I wanna be on TV!”

 

Do you think being a beauty pageant winner helped or hindered your effort to break into the field?

 

It definitely helped me break into the field. I was competing for the title of Miss Ohio, and my first job was at a TV station that also happened to broadcast the pageant. So when I went in for my interview, the general manager already recognized me and gave me the chance of a lifetime. They had a TV station and an AM and FM radio station, and when you worked there you did it all. I carried my own camera, shot my own stories, edited them to create radio and TV versions… it was the single best learning experience about the mechanics of TV journalism. Then, when I won Miss Ohio in 1992, I got a job as an anchor at a station in Cleveland. So it definitely helped me break in, but I don’t think it did me any favors as far as being taken seriously, and by the time I got to Chicago I’d learned to just shut up about it! (Laughs)

 

What made you decide to write Morning, Sunshine at this juncture in your career?

 

One of the editors at the book company actually came to me because she liked the show and had a feeling there was more to me than meets the eye. She asked if I’d like to write a book and, if so, what I would write about. When I thought about what would have meaning for my viewers, I thought about trying to get through my panic attacks because it caused me to really examine myself. So many people see people on TV or in their office and think, “Oh, they’ve got it so easy!” because the grass is always greener on the other side. But I think if we as human beings could learn to talk about our problems, we’d know that life’s path is not always easy and get rid of the stigma that surrounds anxiety.

 

You talk about embracing your inner bitch: How do you suppress that desire to be liked all the time, and where do you draw the line as far as being TOO bitchy?

 

(Laughs) When I say embrace your inner bitch, it doesn’t mean I think we should zoom down and strike our neighbors with lightning bolts. It’s an internal thing: People-pleasers, when they stand up for themselves, have an immediate fear of the repercussions instead of just saying no. If you are going to stand up, draw a line and set boundaries, you have to learn to live with that and stop second-guessing yourself. You have to think, “Okay, they’re not gonna like me now, but what are the benefits of them not liking me?” Which is a tough thing for a people-pleaser to do.

 

Finding balance is something a lot of people wrestle with. How do you know when you find it, or is it constant struggle that never really resolves itself?

 

Whenever I come to a place of conflict or decision-making in my own life, I recognize the pendulum in my brain that goes back and forth, considering the good and bad of each decision. Once you can make it be still and come to the middle, you’ve balanced your thought process. You have to do the same thing with yourself: You’re not all good, you’re not all bad, you just are who you are. As far as balancing time, I think it’s constantly changing. But if you recognize that life isn’t all about work and it isn’t all about your marriage or your kids, then you’re finding that balance.

 

Everything you write about in the book is great, but some people may look at you– former Miss Ohio, voted sexiest newscaster by Playboy readers– and wonder you could relate to what the average girl is going through. What would you say to them?

 

Well, self-esteem isn’t always about your appearance. For me, it was about being liked and being likeable. I completely understand that someone could say, “You work in a visual medium, how can you not be confident?” But that has nothing to do with the inner turmoil of the soul and the brain. No matter what the roots of your self-esteem issues are, I think it helps to learn how to make a better assessment of yourself. You have to balance the things you don’t like about yourself with an honest assessment of the things you’re good at. I could be the simplest thing, but if you have some things you are confident about it can help you realize that the thing you aren’t confident about is not the whole of your being.

 

As a guy, I'm curious what we can do to help when our wives or girlfriends are wrestling with issues of confidence and self-esteem?

 

My husband actually took an extreme measure and went to his chiropractor, who said she helped people with mental breakthroughs, and said, “Oh my god, she needs help!” And thank goodness he did, because now we have this story and we can tell the rest of the world and hopefully it helps other people. But I think you can tell someone about all the positive things you see that they should be confident about, and it doesn’t have to be about their appearance. In fact, sometimes it’s better if it’s not. Once they write out all the reasons they have to be confident, it can bring their opinions of themselves up. So it’s really all about encouraging them and just being a good listener.

 

What do you hope people will get out of reading the book?

 

I hope they’ll understand that just because someone is a public figure, it doesn’t mean their life is a fairy tale. We can all learn something from each other. But most of all I hope that the little confidence-boosters I have in there can help them examine why they don’t have confidence. I hope they’ll emerge from it a better person, feeling better about themselves. 

(originally appeared in INsite Magazine)

THE VISIONARY- My Interview w/Ted Turner

THE VISIONARY- TED TURNER ON HIS LIFE, BUSINESS PHILOSOPHY & SAVING THE WORLD

By Bret Love

 

“Call me Ted” isn’t just the title of Ted Turner’s latest book, the bestselling autobiography (co-written with Bill Burke) detailing the first 70 years of his legendary life. It’s also the first thing he says to visitors entering his downtown Atlanta office for the first time, usually accompanied by a welcoming grin and a remarkably firm handshake that belies his age.

 

It’s this dichotomy– the charming good ol’ boy and tough-minded businessman– that has characterized Turner for the better part of his career. And there are reminders of his greatest achievements practically everywhere you turn, from classic sailing paintings (which evoke memories of his America’s Cup win in 1977) lining the walls and Atlanta Braves (which he turned into a pennant-winning franchise) bobbleheads lining his assistant’s bookshelves to televisions quietly showing CNN (the network he founded).

 

But once the office doors close and the interview begins, it’s clear that the legendary entrepreneur is most comfortable being just plain ol’ Ted, a man who speaks from the heart, shoots from the hip, and is refreshingly frank about his desire to save the world.

 

 

The term “maverick” has been thrown around a lot in recent years, and has often been used to describe your approach to business. What does that word mean to you?

 

Well, it’s somebody that doesn’t fit the mold perfectly, somebody who’s a little different. Being able to think outside the box has served me well most of the time, but sometimes you make mistakes, and that’s a part of life. But the word doesn’t mean that much to me. “Visionary” means more. I don’t really think of myself as a maverick.

 

What are some of the visionary moves you’ve made in your career of which you’re proudest, and what mistakes do you most regret?

 

The Time-Warner merger with AOL is the only major mistake I made business-wise, and it wasn’t really my mistake: Everybody was in favor of it, so I couldn’t have stopped it if I wanted to. As far as my business achievements, I’d say I’m proudest of seeing the potential in satellite and cable TV for television distribution.

 

What compelled you to write “Call Me Ted” at this stage of your life?

 

I figured if I was gonna do it, it was about time. You never know how long you’re gonna be around, and I thought there was enough that had happened in my life that it might be interesting to other people and maybe inspirational in some ways. I’ve had a lot of experiences, and life is really just a composite of your experiences, so I thought the people who took the time to read it might find it helpful in some way.

 

It’s interesting that you allowed your competitors to have a voice, so the book wasn’t entirely told just from your perspective.

 

That was my co-author’s idea. I’d never seen it before and we couldn’t think of any other biographies that had used that approach before. I think it generally worked.

 

Some critics complained that you failed to address how some of the more difficult parts of your life, such as your father’s suicide and your sister’s untimely death from an autoimmune disease, helped to make you the man you are today. Were there portions of your life that were especially tough to re-visit?

 

Of course! Everyone has disappointments and sadness in their lives, and it’s always painful to relive the tragic portions. I don’t feel like I skipped over the difficult parts of my life. For the most part, I felt like I confronted them.

 

What would you say are the key qualities that are essential to success in business?

 

It’s hard to adequately answer that in one paragraph. When I get asked that question of how to become successful quickly, I say, “Early to bed and early to rise, work like hell and advertise.” (Laughs) If you want a one-liner, that’s the one I give people. Another truism is that it doesn’t matter who you, no matter how rich or powerful, you still have to cut your toenails. You don’t look like too big a cheese when you’re cutting your toenails! (Laughs)

 

When you initially got into cable TV back in the ‘70s, did you have any idea how huge it would eventually become?

 

When I first got into it I just wanted to work in television and that was all I could afford. UHF had not made it yet– it was still an experiment– but it all evolved out of the work I did in cable.

 

How do you feel about the way the digital revolution is changing the way people experience television?

 

It gives people more choice and freedom, which has been the trend with a lot of consumer products and services. It’s made life more convenient, like the microwave oven. But if I was a young man today, I wouldn’t go into the TV business because it’s matured. I’d go into the clean alternative energy business.

 

Why?

 

It’s at the very beginning [of the industry’s lifespan], and huge because everybody needs energy. I can’t think of any other industry that has the same level of potential upsides. There’s wind, solar and geo-thermal energy and all sorts of new technologies being developed in these areas. We’re going to have to wean ourselves off of fossil fuels because it’s running out, and we only have 3% of the world’s oil reserves here in the United States. We use 20% of the world’s energy, and news reports say that even if global warming wasn’t the threat that it is, we’d still need to move to renewable energy sources simply because of the financial situation. We cannot keep sending trillions of dollars over to the Middle East, where they’re building indoor ski resorts with our money while we’re unemployed.

 

Why do you think it’s taken the Western world so long to figure that out?

 

Because it requires dealing with the future, where we’ve been living for today and letting the devil take care of tomorrow. It’s finally caught up with us. We’ve been spending more money than we’re making, which you can do for a while, but not forever. Warren Buffett said the United States as a whole has been spending 6% more per year than we make for the last five years, and that’s trillions of dollars! We’ve been splurging on our credit cards, but all of a sudden the bill comes due and the piper has got to be paid. It’s very painful, but it’s always very painful to cut back.

 

What role do you think the environmental movement will ultimately play in fixing the nation’s economy?

 

Environmentalists are in favor of clean renewable energy and combating global warming as fast as we can, and I think that’s gonna be good for the economy too. It’ll create a lot of new jobs here in the United States, because while you can outsource the production of the windmills and solar panels, you’ve got to install and service them here, and there’s no reason we can’t build them here as well. It should provide a great stimulus to the economy, and it’ll also get us away from fossil fuels. Here in Atlanta, incidents of asthma in children is 100% what it was 20 years ago, and it’s all because of automobile emissions and our power plants burning coal. Even if we do nothing but get cleaner air, it’s still worth doing it because our poisonous air just keeps getting worse.

 

How does the over 2 million acres of land you own fit into your environmental vision?

 

I think we’re setting an example for how to manage land in an environmentally sensitive way, with a real strong emphasis on maintaining habitats for a variety of plants and wildlife.

 

Ted’s Montana Grill has been promoting a “Green Restaurant Revolution.” What’s that all about?

 

We’re doing everything we can to encourage businesses to become more eco-friendly. I’m heavily invested in the chain, and we’re trying to set a good example for environmental stewardship. We’re doing everything from using bio-diesel and paper straws that are biodegradable to using more energy efficient lighting.

 

You’ve pledged a billion dollars to the United Nation’s causes. Why do you think that organization is so important?

 

Because we live in a very complicated and interconnected world today, and I think we’d have absolute chaos if we didn’t have the U.N. It’s like the national governments, which aren’t perfect either, but we can’t function without them. If you look at failed nations such as Somalia, they can’t get anything done because have no government or police department, so it’s total chaos. But the United Nations deals with things national governments can’t do alone, like addressing climate change, which requires all the countries in the world to work together. They handle world food programs in countries dealing with famine, helping to alleviate hunger, and deal with the global problem of refugees. The list just goes on and on.

 

I know you considered running for President at one point. How would you grade the job Obama’s done over his first 100 days in office?

 

I think he’s done a very good job considering the fact that he inherited, through no fault of his own, this serious financial trouble we’re in. I’m not sure what the right way to deal with this financial meltdown is, but he’s got some of the smartest people in the country working on it with him. As far as environmental concerns, I think he’s put climate change and getting rid of nuclear weapons right at the very top of his agenda. He’s also got to balance the quest for renewable resources with the survival of the auto industry, which is a very complicated problem I’m not sure I have all the answers for. That’s why he’s President and I’m sitting here talking to you (laughs).

 

As one of the primary architects of Atlanta’s growth over the past 30 years, what are the best and worst things about the city’s evolution?

 

Atlanta has grown so much, but it can’t keep growing the way it has. As the world gets more and more overpopulated, it looks like the unchecked growth was a mistake. We probably should have stabilized the population years ago instead of going off the charts, because otherwise all of the other things we’re doing to save the environment are gonna be washed away. On the positive side, we’ve got a good baseball team. (Laughs) I’d like to see more green spaces, but the ones we have are very beautiful and well taken care of. I’m thankful for that.

 

How has your life changed most since turning 70? What do you do to keep yourself so vibrant?

 

I haven’t really seen any major changes. Your 70^th birthday is just like any other day. Of course, as you get older you do seem to slow down a little, and it becomes a little more painful getting in and out of chairs or the car. But I do exercise every day, and I read a fair amount to try to keep up with everything that’s going on in the world today. I read The Economist every week, because it’s got the best international coverage of any magazine I’ve seen.

 

If you were writing a sequel to Call Me Ted in 10 years, what new achievements would you hope to be able to write about by then?

 

I’d like to see the world rid of nuclear weapons and see us handle the issue of climate change effectively. I’d like to see the population stabilized, and poverty and hunger eliminated. There are a few other things as well, but they would all be achievements of humanity, not personal achievements.

 

(originally published in AirTran's GO Magazine)